We All Need Heroes

By Simon Zingerman

Are your ideas stupid? Unreasonable? Or maybe just non-existing? If that is the case, We All Need Heroes is a book for you. Simon Zingerman, with his fantastic collection of anecdotes about the believable, unbelievable and always winning ideas, inspires even the most uninspired couch potato to get up and DO SOMETHING! If your creativity is on a standstill, or if you're just stuck in a project, small or big, this book can be the key to you getting back in business. With these stories you get the feeling that everyone can succeed, if it's about getting a prosperous career, earning a fortune in an innovative way, or just become an emotionally richer individual. You can read about clever solutions to big problems, intelligent inventions or accomplished marketing. Or about people who never give up despite hopeless failures, but whose dreams eventually come true because of stubbornness and a never-ending storage of optimism. This is a great feel-good book that you can either gorge all in one go for more than a mouthful of motivation, or pick up every now and then for a sporadic reliance when hope is slipping away. If anything, it's a lightsome collection of both heart-warming and brain-tickling tales that everyone should take part of - Elin Hermanson (kulturellan).

We All Need Heroes is the quite astonishing result of author Simon Zingerman's last project as a university student. As his thesis he compiled his favorite inspirational stories that he'd been gathering for almost three years and turned them into a book. Packed with 120 short-stories from all around the world, and from many different decades, We All Need Heroes celebrates people with brave and innovative ideas. Simon believes that the stories will convert the skeptical into believers, make heroes out of cowards and turn dull entrepreneurs and directors into trendsetters.

Learn the importance of making enemies, why one should not strive to win awards and how you can practice to be in the right place at the right time. Read about impressive guerrilla marketing campaigns and stupid business ideas that made homeless people into millionaires. Learn to see things with new perspective and to step out of your comfort zone. Get encouraged to create something different. Start that business you've dreamed about but never had the guts to turn into reality. There is simply no limit on what you will gain by reading We All Need Heroes. The stories might be told about a completely different line of business than the one you're in, but the main idea behind them and the essence of finding new ways to tackle problems - are universal.

"By showing the greatness of others I strengthen myself in my profession. These projects and people have encouraged me to follow my crazy dreams and pursue my chosen career. I give examples of possible moral, lessons to be learned from each story, but of course they're free for you to interpret. I truly hope that my chosen favorites will continue to inspire others to dare take the step, and get the courage to do something different. Reading about other people's success stories will hopefully help you create your own!" - Simon Zingerman, Skyborn Works.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon Zingerman
• Release date: Mar 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9789198090413

Simon Zingerman

Simon Zingerman is a newly graduated graphic design student from Stockholm, Sweden. His first book We All Need Heroes is the quite astonishing result of his thesis for his last year studying Media Design at Luleå University of Technology. As school finished Simon started up his own business Skyborn Works, with strong intention to finish and self-publish the book as his very first professional project. Although he spent many months writing this book Simon chooses not to label himself as an author. In his own words: "I'm simply a young and hungry entrepreneur retelling stories in a fun and exciting way, hoping that the result of my hard work in putting it all together will convert the skeptical into believers, make heroes out of cowards and turn dull entrepreneurs and directors into trendsetters". Simon is a graphic designer at heart and writing and designing this book has been a great learning process for him. Follow the unstoppable creative force at: www.skybornworks.com.

Book preview

WE ALL NEED HEROES

Stories of the Brave and Foolish

Simon Zingerman

Published by Skyborn Works at Smashwords.

Copyright © 2013 by Simon Zingerman. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

Text: All text is written and copyrighted by Simon Zingerman.

Proofreading/correction: Johanna Hagstedt, Stefan Nordström, Ivana Kovacevic, Karin Vincelette and Erik Vincelette.

Design: Simon Zingerman.

Typography: Corki (Free type by Typedepot™), League Gothic (Free type by Micah Rich & Caroline Hadilaksono), Miso (License, Mårten Nettelbladt), Carton (Free type by Nick McCosker), Practique (License, Blindfrog Industries), Lobster (Free type by Pablo Impallari), Molesk (Free type by Pedro Lobo), Pacifico (Free type by Vernon Adams), Cubano (Free type by Chandler Van De Water), Ostrich Sans Rounded (Free type by Tyler Finck), Chunk Five (Free type by Meredith Mandel) and Adobe Garamond Pro.

The owners of the freeware types grants permission to use them freely for ‘all your personal and commercial work’.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Attempts have been made to reach all copyright holders. Should anything be omitted or be wrong I’m grateful for information on this for future editions. In advance I apologise for any unintentional mishaps and I’m pleased to correct any errors in the acknowledgements. If you wish for your company or yourself to be removed from the book, please be sure to contact me.

SOURCES & INDEXES

The sources for the stories are displayed at the bottom of the left page of each story spread. The index of all the used names, products and companies, the creative library and the copyrights/agreements for the illustrations can be found on pages 262-271.

PUBLISHING

This ebook version of We All Need Heroes is published by Skyborn Works through Smashwords. The original paperback edition was released in December 2012. The third edition (this one) was released digitally in March 2013.

ISBN-13: 978-91-980904-1-3

ISBN-10: 91-980904-1-0

CONTACT

Skyborn Works

Lyckselevagen 38, LGH 1102. 162 67 Vallingby. SWEDEN.

T: [phone]

[e-mail]

www.skybornworks.com

www.weallneedheroes.com

WE ALL NEED HEROES

This book contains a collection of stories from all around the world. I’ve been gathering them by travelling, reading books/magazines, listening to teachers presenters/lecturers, making interviews, watching documentaries, eavesdropping on the train/bus and much more. This is a collection of three years of inspiration, made possible by my curiosity. From the beginning, I never had any intentions of writing this book, nor did I ever chase after these stories. They came to me, and I just kept writing them down. Now here we are with a book packed with 120 stories!

The stories are narrated, and as we all know, each time a story is told, a few changes are made to it. Thus, I cannot promise that all the stories are true, and that all the information is correct. It’s important for you to know that these facts are not to be fully trusted, something that all stories have in common. This is pure entertainment with the goal of encouraging, inspiring and entertaining with hope of lighting a spark in your mind. A feel-good book with fairy tale movie endings. The focus is not set on who or which company, but on the act of bravery and/or foolishness itself.

No matter if you are an entrepreneur, part of a working team, a student or someone thinking of starting a business – I hope this book will be of inspiration to you. The stories might be told about a completely different line of business than the one you’re in, but the main idea behind them and the essence of finding new ways to tackle problems – are universal.

The idea for you as a reader is to pretty much never know what to expect. What determines what kind of experience you get from your reading depends only on yourself, where you are in life and what your needs consist of right now. This allows the book to always be up-to-date. You can pick it up at any time, and hopefully, a story you didn’t care for earlier may now lead to action on your part. To draw an analogy: A music band you never thought you’d be listening to five years ago, is perhaps today one of your favourites.

The projects and people portrayed in the book have encouraged me to follow my crazy dreams and do what I want careerwise. This book will have done its job if it affects you in a way that makes you improve one or two things about yourself or your life on Monday morning.

We all need heroes – these are some of mine.

Note: My intention with this book is to charge people with energy, not to advance falsehoods. I want to clarify that my goal is not to defame individuals or companies in any way. Enjoy your reading!

Simon Zingerman

Chapter One

/// 1 - ABSURD YET TRUE \\\

STUCK IN LIMBO

Mehran Karimi Nasseri, also known as Sir, Alfred Mehran, is an Iranian refugee who lived in the departure lounge of Terminal 1 in Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport between the years 1988 and 2006.

Due to protesting against the Shah in 1977, Nasseri was imprisoned, tortured, and later expelled from his country. He then applied for asylum in many European countries without luck. When he decided to go to the United Kingdom, he claimed that he had been mugged and that his shoulder bag was stolen while waiting at the train platform to go to Charles de Gaulle Airport and take a flight to Heathrow Airport. Nasseri managed to board the plane but when he arrived at Heathrow without the necessary documentation, Heathrow officials sent him back to Charles de Gaulle. Nasseri was unable to prove his identity and his refugee status to the French officials and so he was moved to the Zone d’attente (waiting zone), a holding area for travelers without papers. He was initially arrested by the French, but then released as his entry into the airport was legal. Although Nasseri had no country of origin to be returned to, and so began his residency at Terminal 1. With his cart and bags, he almost looked like a traveler, so people either didn’t notice him or ignored him as if he were a homeless person. Normally Nasseri wouldn’t speak with anyone. He kept his luggage by his side and spent his time reading, writing in his diary, or studying economics. He received food and newspapers from employees of the airport. He also received mail to the address Sir Alfred, Terminal 1, Charles de Gaulle. Newspaper and television reporters from around the world visited him for interviews. In England and Germany a book about Nasseri was released. In 1999 he was granted refugee status by the French authorities and would have been able to leave the airport for the first time but he refused to sign the necessary papers, claiming that his real name was Sir Alfred and therefore wasn’t allowed to leave. Theoretically this meant Nasseri could have left the terminal at any time.

Nasseri was reportedly the inspiration behind the 2004 movie The Terminal. Unlike Tom Hanks’ character in the movie, from around 1994, Nasseri didn’t live in the duty-free transit area but simply in the departure hall, in the circular boutiques and restaurants passage on the lowest floor. DreamWorks, the company behind The Terminal, paid Nasseri for the use of his story. However, he couldn’t access checks reportedly sent to his lawyer because he didn’t have a bank account.

Nasseri’s stay at the airport ended in July 2006 when he was hospitalized. Towards the end of January 2007, he left the hospital and was looked after by the airport’s branch of the French Red Cross. He was lodged in a hotel close to the airport for a few weeks and on March 6 of 2007, he transferred to an Emmaus charity reception centre in Paris. As of 2008, he continues to live in a Paris shelter. Nasseri’s strange and unbelievable destiny became a legend during his 17 years at the airport.

Possible Moral

I like to use stories like this one as a tool to spark new ideas of mine. Stories of absurd events in life get my creative juices flowing and have so far given birth to some of my best ideas. Nasseri’s fate makes me reflect upon life and ask: What would I do if I got stranded at an airport?. I believe that there must be something good to be gained by putting yourself in a fake scenario and using your creativity to, in this case, make the best of a horrendous situation. I think it’s also a great thing to try and find inspiration in unexpected places. Furthermore I believe that this story can serve as an eye-opener about how you can feel alienated and lonely despite being surrounded by throngs of humans.

Sources: Terminal Man, Alfred Merhan, 2004. Mehran Karimi Nasseri - In Transit, h2g2, BBC, May 28, 2008.

SWIMMING FOR NATURE

Long-distance swimmer Martin Strel has become the world’s most unlikely philanthropist – he’s out to save the world’s dirtiest rivers. Martin comes from Slovenia and he taught himself to swim in a nearby stream when he was six years old and became a professional long distance swimmer in 1978. Nowadays, he’s not so fit and is considered the world’s heaviest elite endurance swimmer. With this in mind, it comes as a big surprise that it’s in Martin’s latest years he’s achieved his most impressive swimming goals. He has swum the Mississippi, the Danube and the Yangtze rivers. Why? To bring attention to how polluted they are. In February 2007, Martin began an insane attempt to be the first person ever to swim the entire length of the world’s most dangerous river, the mighty Amazon. He faced piranhas, bull sharks and pirates when he swam the 3,272-mile stretch in 66 days. This amazing achievement was filmed and the movie-documentary, which became a big success, was released in 2009 with the title Big River Man.

Our world has a lot of water, but only 1-3 percent of it suffices as drinking water. This is one of the greatest problems of today: Drinking water is sparse and Martin points out that we have to take better care of it because no one should have to buy drinking water from the grocery store. He’s trying to change this. In China, India and Egypt water pollution is serious to the point that people are dying from it. In fact, more people die from dirty water than from war. Martin sees himself as a teacher or an adviser on clean water. In New York he held motivational speeches on the importance of keeping the Manhattan Island clean and to get the Hudson and Harlem Rivers in better shape. Martin’s next step is to make another film that focuses on pollution. He says there is still much to do when it comes to cleaning up drinking water and that’s what he’s intending to do.

Possible Moral

Martin Strel’s driving force should be an inspiration to us all. Using your talent, hobby or profession in a way that makes you contribute with something good to this world is truly the way to go. After his Amazon swim, Martin held a speech about simplicity: My Name is Martin. You can see I’m not Lance Armstrong. I’m a little fat and a little old. I like to drink a little. I’m a simple man. There are many people like me. I hope they see this swim and realize they can do impossible things, even save the world. I hope people remember this rainforest is our friend and stop destroying it. Now I’m very tired I just swam Amazon... Please excuse me.

Sources: Big River Man documentary, 2009. The Amazon Swim Project official site, Martin Strel official site. Quote: From Martin Strel’s speech after the Amazon Swim, 2007. English Channel Triathlon Dover-Heidelberg, Sri Chinmoy.

THE KNOWLEDGE

The Knowledge is the world’s most demanding training course for taxi drivers. All licensed London taxi drivers need to pass a special test before they can drive one of the capital’s famous black taxis. The test was initiated in 1865 and has changed little since. It’s claimed that the training involved ensures that London taxi drivers are experts on London, and have an intimate knowledge of the city. The taxi driver is required to be able to decide routes immediately in response to a passenger’s request or traffic conditions, rather than stopping to look at a map, relying on satellite navigation or asking a controller by radio. The Knowledge is based on learning 320 routes (or runs). This helps them learn the 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks and places of interest in the six mile radius of Charing Cross (the centre of London).

Applicants will usually need at least twelve appearances (attempts at the final test), after preparation averaging 34 months, to pass the examination. It takes between two and four years to pass the All-London Knowledge. Two-thirds of all applicants who apply will fail, some will sustain serious injuries and many more will become divorced while studying The Knowledge. People have compared this education with a Ph.D thesis. These taxi drivers really are the Doctors of the Road in that sense.

What is unique is that these drivers are independent contractors that own their own taxis, and have more or less no association with the government. The drivers can choose to work more or less depending on their own circumstances. Once you are licensed you can work anywhere in the Greater London area. It’s said that working 50 hours per week all year will give these taxi drivers around

Reviews for We All Need Heroes

[skybornworks-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

By Elin HermansonAre your ideas stupid? Unreasonable? Or maybe just non-existing? If that is the case, We All Need Heroes is a book for you. Simon Zingerman, with his fantastic collection of anecdotes about the believable, unbelievable and always winning ideas, inspires even the most uninspired couch potato to get up and DO SOMETHING! If your creativity is on a standstill, or if you're just stuck in a project, small or big, this book can be the key to you getting back in business. With these stories you get the feeling that everyone can succeed, if it's about getting a prosperous career, earning a fortune in an innovative way, or just become an emotionally richer individual. You can read about clever solutions to big problems, intelligent inventions or accomplished marketing. Or about people who never give up despite hopeless failures, but whose dreams eventually come true because of stubbornness and a never-ending storage of optimism. This is a great feel-good book that you can either gorge all in one go for more than a mouthful of motivation, or pick up every now and then for a sporadic reliance when hope is slipping away. If anything, it's a lightsome collection of both heart-warming and brain-tickling tales that everyone should take part of.